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Praying

Briefing: Have you ever tried to use reverse psychology on a suspect?

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Romans 11:11-24.

On the Street: Paul was an apostle sent to preach the good news of the gospel to the gentiles (a gentile was anyone who was not a Jew). He was passionate about the gentiles and had great love for them but he was a Jew. He had great sorrow over the Jews refusal to believe Jesus was the Messiah. He explains that in his preaching to the gentiles he hopes to have two results. He hopes the gentiles will come to have faith in Jesus and the Jews will become jealous and also come to faith in Jesus.

Rest assured these devotionals are not intended to bring you to Jesus because of your envy or jealousy. My goal is not that all firefighters will become jealous over law enforcement having revival and then they come to know Jesus. That would be great but it is not the intent.

For peace officers, this is an officer safety issue. “Officer Safety” is the term we sometimes use to remind us to watch out for ourselves first, other officers second, and the general public third. For those unfamiliar with this concept, it may seem rude and unfair. Think of it in these terms, if an officer is not safe when driving to a 911 call, and has an accident on the way, he/she compounds the problem. The officer involved accident now takes precedence and negatively effects the person who called 911. Now the officer who was going to help that person will not be able to make it and other officers who could go in their place are now headed to the accident. The person who called 911 gets a delayed response because of a LACK of officer safety.

Officer safety is not a concept that says officers are more important and their safety trumps that of anybody else. If an officer does not take care of himself/herself, how can they be expected to take care of citizens in need?

The same goes for the spirituality of a law enforcement officer. We must have the officer safety mentality when it comes to other peace officers coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our hearts must break over unsaved peace officers and departments where talking about Jesus is “frowned upon”. There is a Christian law enforcement ministry called Code3 Ministries. They use a term that is absolutely on target. We must have a code three sense of urgency about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with other law enforcement officers. There are all kinds of groups that can help you with this from local churches to national ministries for law enforcement. I will list a few in the Investigational resources.

Investigational Resources: The Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers (FCPO.org), Code3 Ministries, Badge of Hope Ministry, Covered Law Enforcement Ministry, Centurion Law Enforcement Ministry and so many more.

Officer Safety Principle: Pray for your fellow officers across the globe.

from The Book of Romans Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
Click here to check out the entire Through the Eyes of a Cop series!